St. Clairsville scores $100,000 grant for future rec center
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ST. CLAIRSVILLE - The city of St. Clairsville will be receiving a $100,000 grant from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.
The grant is for the city's new 20,000-square-foot recreation center which will cost $2.7 million.
During city council's regularly scheduled meeting on Monday evening, council passed a resolution authorizing Mayor Kathryn Thalman to execute the Capital Improvement Community Park Recreational Conservation Project Pass-Thought Grant Agreement of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.
Law director Joe Vavra said the motion was required for the city to proceed with receiving the grant. ODNR needs the city to file legislation approving it, indicating Thalman has authority to sign the agreement.
"That’ll let us basically accept their grant and proceed with the grant process," Vavra said. "We will now process everything through and the mayor will sign some documents, I’ll sign a couple things and we’ll get everything back to ODNR so they can process on their end, and then we’ll move through the grant."
He added the grant will not be a lump sum, but is a reimbursement.
"They don’t just give us the money with this grant. I believe it requires us to spend and then get reimbursed," Vavra said. "So the city spends X amount of dollars. We then let ODNR know that they will reimburse us that amount, and it goes all the way up until $100,000."
Thalman said the city is extremely grateful to ODNR as well as the other grants the city has received to make the new facility a possibility.
"We’re just very happy that our legislative branch sees the need for this. We had money secured through ODNR and want to thank them very much," Thalman said. We’re very happy to see this project get ready to take off in 2027. It’ll be a nice addition to our city."
Announced in September, The Unified Bank Community Center will be built directly behind the St. Clairsville Amphitheater and will include an ADA-compliant public meeting room for council to hold its regular meetings.
There currently is no exact start or completion date for the project yet, but information is forthcoming.
Thalman then announced the city will hold its annual Fall Art Show on Saturday from 5-9 p.m. at the Unified Bank Jr. Sports Complex.
She said the event has 32 local artists and they can drop their art from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday.
Vavra then informed council he received information from the Department of Commerce about expiring Class C and D alcohol sales permits in February.
"They're just giving us the chance to object to any that we would find problematic," Vavra said.
He added Class C permits are carryout locations such as gas stations and grocery stores, while Class D permits are sit-down restaurants.
"It's not talking about anybody in particular, but it’s talking about all of those that are out there," Vavra said. "Again, this is asking if we want to object if anything’s problematic. If there’s legal concerns, I’m not aware of, I don’t think we need to take any action on this. If we just put this away and don’t take any action, then it’ll be a non-issue."
He added council has until Jan. 4 to address the issue if needed.
"As of right now, I don’t think there’s anything out there that we would have any legitimate basis to go after objecting," Vavra said.